The process of conflict in buyer‐seller relationships at domestic and international levels: A comparative analysis

Despite the fact that conflict is an essential behavioural dimension underlying the buyer‐seller relationship, no empirical work has as yet been conducted on the comparison of conflictual processes between different types of marketing channels. This paper attempts to compare exporter‐importer and exporter‐domestic customer business partnerships, regarding the dimension of conflict throughout its various stages of growth and development. The study was carried out on a sample of 53 indigenous Greek manufacturing firms. Contrary to prior expectations, it was found that the exporter‐importer (E‐I) kind of relationship was not characterized by higher levels of conflictual processes than those in the domestic type of business association. Surprisingly, the study results also showed that in a substantial number of conflict areas, the domestic relationship category was governed by significantly higher levels of conflictual processes compared with those in the E‐I kind of business partnership. The managerial implications of the research findings are discussed and avenues for future research directions are outlined.